Sunday, May 7, 2017

The Mystery Guest Announcement Childhood Memory Recall Effect

Greetings All,

Like many well intentioned internet blogs, some times they just end up being neglected. This one is no exception. However I received an email from the Phoenix Comicon that prompted me to write an entry. As I like to title my random entries I tried to come up with a name for this entry with no success. So I borrowed the method used by the Big Bang Theory writers and just incorporated some scientific phraseology to name this entry, now I have a title.

As an attendee of the Phoenix Comicon (see you there!) I receive email notices about the event. I was actually logged into my email account when this message with the header, Breaking News-Phoenix Comicon Welcomes…Dick Van Dyke.

There probably aren’t words to describe how we feel about our final media guest announcement…On the contrary, there’s a very good word. Super-cali-fragi-listic-expiali-dociousIn his first official Comicon experience, please welcome to Phoenix Comicon…

Dick Van Dyke is an award-winning actor and a recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. He is known for his role as Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and as Bert/Mr. Dawes Sr. in Mary Poppins. Van Dyke is well known for many of his musical roles in movies such as Bye Bye Birdie, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Van Dyke has also appeared in other popular movies such as Dick Tracy, Curious George, and Night at the Museum. He also starred in Diagnosis Murder.

Recipient of five Primetime Emmys, a Tony and a Grammy Award, Dick Van Dyke was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. He received the Screen Actors Guild's highest honor, the SAG Life Achievement Award, in 2013. Van Dyke has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard and has also been recognized as a Disney Legend.

Dick Van Dyke will be appearing at Phoenix Comicon on Saturday, May 27th.

Be sure to get your photo ops and autographs early. “Good luck will rub off when he shakes hand with you!”Get your passes now and join us for a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious weekend!Courtesy of OC Celebrity Marketing LLC

Dick Van Dyke?

I have long gotten over the negative feelings I used to have when most major comic conventions are not really comic book conventions. The San Diego Comicon comic book dealers are now managed like a rare protected species in a bird sanctuary, on the convention floor. Because if they weren’t the movie companies would buy out the space right out from underneath them. I write this from the perspective of a 58 year old male who was buying comics off the stands in 1975.

Dick Van Dyke? Why would I go to a comic book convention to see Dick Van Dyke? I am not really a Dick Van Dyke fan. I do understand his status as a Hollywood entertainment icon. Then something started pulling at me from my past. I seem to remember a toy plastic car that I had gotten in a box of cereal. It was kind of odd and I added it to my collection of wheeled stock to use in my demolition derbies. It did not really stand much of a chance against the hot wheels though. It took a bit of research but I managed to pin the year down to 1968. Visit this nice website for more on it. I thought it kind of odd that the car had wings but I did cut them out of the cereal box and attached them to the car, but they were quickly lost. However I vaguely remember that I did not enter the car in my hot wheel demolition derbies. It had something to do with the wings I think.

It wasn’t long after that I saw the movie in the theater. My parents followed the process of just dropping the kid off at the theater, so I watched this by myself as a 9 year old and absolutely loved the movie.

Not to many years later I would sing the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song and slip the bad rhyming dirty words in when no one else was around. With the magic of the internet I learned the movie was based on a book written by Ian Fleming the creator of James Bond.

To see an actual clip of Dick Van Dyke driving the car and to hear the movie and song go here:

Also, as I may be having a need of it for the convention, I would also like to share with you, my latest comic book acquisition as of 3 minutes ago. The wonder of ebay.

So as someone pointed out to me, today’s comic book conventions may not just be about comic books, they are better because there is something for everyone. However in this instance, Dick Van Dyke has a comic book connection and he belongs there.

By the way, I will be starting a new series of blog entries called Comic Book Archeology. Some of these old internet sites bear looking at for their connection to comic book history. However I will be covering other types of subjects besides those.